Galaxies and nebulae are dim, distant objects that require lots of exposure time and some careful processing. Long exposures at high magnification challenge the precision of the mount, and contrast must be carefully enhanced to keep objectionable noise to a minimum.

Some of these images are shot with a normal (RGB) color palette — galaxies, or things that look like galaxies. But for emission nebulae, whose individual chemical elements glow at specific wavelengths, I use narrowband filters and map each element’s signal to red, green, or blue, producing false-color images that highlight the object’s structure. This filters out almost all light pollution, allowing me to image deep-space objects even from my urban back yard.